The Azure in His Eyes
by Belladonna Lee
Summary: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald. Floating in the limbo between sleep and wakefulness, Albus is dimly aware of a weight settling on top of him, immobilising him.


Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter and its characters are not mine.

A/N: Written for the _hp-may-madness_ challenge's Day 8 prompt, _azure_. This story has nothing to do with the _Fantastic Beasts_ movies.

 **The Azure in His Eyes**

Floating in the limbo between sleep and wakefulness, Albus was dimly aware of a weight settling on top of him, immobilising him. A nightmare had come by for a visit, his addled mind mused idly. With mild curiosity he reached out with his hand—it seemed he could move after all—and came into contact with something solid and wrapped in fabric. A soft laughter rang out from somewhere above him, and the weight above him shifted ever so slightly. Warm fingers clasped his wrist, and a faint whiff of sandalwood roused his senses.

When his mind caught on to what his sensations were telling him, Albus opened his eyes with a start. Sitting on top of him as if he belonged there, Gellert looked down upon him and smiled that playful, lopsided smile of his. Gellert's blond hair barely gleamed in the golden firelight, and his blue eyes were bright with a mischievous glint.

"I thought you wanted to see me, so here I am."

Memories of another lifetime flooded Albus' mind, leaving him stunned and helpless beneath the man who, even now, had a hold on him and his trampled heart. Swallowing hard, he stared at Gellert's face, a face that had lost some of its youthfulness but none of its devilish beauty. Like a man possessed he reached up and touched Gellert's face. Everything was too real: the warmth, the scent, the voice, the body atop his body.

The curve upon Gellert's lips widened into a grin. Taking Albus' hand, Gellert pressed a kiss on Albus' palm before licking the very spot he had kissed. The ticklish sensation left Albus dry-mouthed and all too warm. Yes, this was the Gellert he once knew: bold and roguish and brilliant, the wizard who knew countless ways of drawing out his worse tendencies.

A chill trickled down Albus' back, and he broke out in a cold sweat. Snapped out of his brief spell of nostalgia, he composed himself and searched for words in the dark. "You shouldn't be here." His voice was as hoarse as that of an old man.

"Are you worried about me? Or are you worried about yourself?" A pause. "Perhaps you don't want me here after all?"

When Albus gave no answer, there was a flash of coldness in Gellert's countenance. Without a word he let go of Albus' hand and got up. A fleeting moment stretched on to infinity inside Albus' feverish mind. His rationality told him to let Gellert go and never again involve himself in any matter concerning Gellert. His sense of duty told him to capture Gellert lest more innocent blood be spilled. His guilt told him to seize the opportunity and settle his feud with Gellert once and for all. In the end, his hand moved of its own accord and caught Gellert's arm.

With a cool look Gellert regarded Albus for a beat or two, and his lips shaped into a smirk. Ever so slowly he straddled Albus and made himself comfortable atop Albus, his movement teeming with meaning. Albus bit back the groan that was threatening to spill out of his mouth, but his body was more honest than his mouth ever was. He could feel a tingle of desire rippling outwards and stirring up indecent thoughts he dared not contemplate.

"I'm here to see if you would reconsider my offer." The playfulness in Gellert's demeanour was gone, and he looked upon Albus in earnest. "I want you, Albus. Come with me."

"I... can't. This is madness."

"You think so?" Gellert murmured in that low, husky voice of his, and with the gentleness of a lover he stroked Albus' cheek, his calloused hand dry, steady and warm. It was the hand of a seasoned wizard and a master duellist.

A thrill coursed through Albus, and he could no longer tell if it stemmed from fear or excitement or nervousness or infatuation or lust. In spite of knowing what this man was capable of, his pulse quickened, and he sucked in a deep breath. "Don't, Gellert."

Narrowing his eyes, Gellert brushed his thumb against Albus' lower lip, and his gaze fell upon the dip between Albus' collar-bones. With his other hand he slowly worked his way down the row of buttons on Albus' shirt. "Don't?"

"Don't make this more difficult than it already is," Albus pleaded. Unspoken words hung in the sultry air like a lingering scent. He was afraid, afraid of the power and control Gellert had over him, and yet he could not—would not—push Gellert away.

"Difficult?"

"You know why." Albus could hear the accusation in his own voice. Another button was undone, exposing a little more of his skin and laying bare a little more of his rotten soul.

With the smile of an angel Gellert pressed a finger against Albus' lips and shushed him. "I only want what is best for you, Albus. You deserve so much more than what you have right now." Those bright blue eyes of Gellert's were downcast, and his voice softened to a mere whisper. "Do you not feel alone at times? I do."

Stricken with a terrible ache in his chest, Albus nonetheless reminded himself of everything his former friend had done, and with some effort he mustered what little will-power he had left in him. "You want what is best for _you_ —that is what you meant," he said quietly. "I cannot go with you."

As though in defeat Gellert heaved a sigh, wrapped his hands around Albus' neck, and peered into Albus' eyes. Neither anxious nor afraid, Albus met his gaze, and he saw himself imprisoned in the azure of Gellert's eyes. He saw Gellert drinking alone at a seedy bar, he saw Gellert smiling at a man sitting several seats away from him, and he saw Gellert embracing the man in bed with a look of pleasure.

Albus clenched his fist as the first pang of jealousy struck him hard and knocked his reason aside. Phantom fingers slipped ever so gently inside his mind, caressed his thoughts and stroked his memories. Even though it was all inside his head, he could not help letting out a moan. Several heartbeats later, Gellert chuckled and let him go, leaving him panting and dazed.

"Your pulse is racing, Albus." There was a note of amusement in Gellert's voice. "Even though you could block out everyone else, you couldn't help leaving a tiny fissure for me to get in."

Torn between the urge to punch Gellert in the face and the urge to throw him onto the bed and ravish him, Albus took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. "I don't know where your truth ends and your lies begin."

A look of surprise appeared for a moment upon Gellert's face. In the next beat, his lips curved into a conspiring smile that Albus knew all too well: a smile that stirred up butterflies in his stomach, a smile that brought about his ruin, and a smile that he could not help but at once love and resent.

"Why don't we play a game of hide-and-seek?" Gellert said. "I shall hide, and you shall seek me out. When you found me, I shall give you a present." He covered Albus' eyes with his hand, leant over him, and breathed words into his ear. "Come find me, Albus, and this time I will let you come as deeply inside me as you like."

Tender lips brushed against Albus' lips, sealing the vow. In the next moment, Gellert's body heat fell away, and the weight on top of Albus was lifted. A sense of loss spread across Albus' entire being like a disease. His heart was pounding in his chest, and his shirt clung to his sweat-drenched back. After letting out a breath, he opened his eyes. Gellert was nowhere to be found. Only the fragrance of warm sandalwood lingered in the air on this delirious night, haunting him like a spirit of the dead.

* * *

 _Finis._

A/N: Gellert acts like an incubus in this story, but in the context of this story he is not an actual incubus. Thank you for reading.


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